Hunted Down Like Dogs

RNDP Puts Up A "Bounty" For Every Dead Rohingya
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(This Boy Is Now A Commodity, Sold As A Slave Or Killed For A Bounty)

Rakhine Prime Minister, U Hla Maung Tin, arrived at Pauktaw this morning and made a beeline for the Rohingya refugee camp. Once there the PM fell in line with his party (the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party) by demanding that the Rohingya in the internally displaced peoples' camp sign documents that state that they are illegal immigrants. The documents state that the Rohingya are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants that have no claim to Burmese citizenship. These documents would be used therefore to deport the Rohingya to a country that has shown no interest whatsoever in accepting them. And without actual legal documents to show that they are either Burmese or Bengali, the Rohingya would officially in Burmese courts be "stateless". 

When the Rohingya in the camp refused to sign the documents Maung Tin threatened the refugees and left. Maung Tin told the Rohingya refugees that if they did not sign that he would see to it that no aid ever made it through the blockades again (including rice from the foreign aid organizations). The RNDP went further by going to Rakhine villages and camps to pass around word of just what these threats entailed. The RNDP then went on to tell the Rakhine that they would pay one lakh kyats for every Rohingya, or kalar (a slur for the Rohingya), they kill. Together, Maung Tin and the RNDP, are making threats that could lead to a return to the June and October riots that launched their genocidal campaign. 

This tactic of "sign or die" has been getting used more and more as the campaign of ethnic cleansing has been amped up. In addition to calling on renewed butchery by the RNDP, the Rakhine extremist have maintained their blockades of Rohingya villages and camps. The RNDP has also begun encouraging Rakhine from Bangladesh and impoverished areas of the Arakan to move into Rohingya villages. By calling the Rakhine "settlers" the RNDP shows that they are intent upon wiping out the memory of these Rohingya villages that were burnt or bulldozed. 

With all the actions taken recently by a major Burmese political party to kill and deport an entire minority one might wonder how the outside world is ignoring this? Time and time again Alder's Ledge has brought proof of genocide taking place right now in Burma and yet these same articles fail to show up in mainstream media. So once again I'm sure there are those wondering just how something like that which has been shown above can take place without their media source covering it. I'm sure there are still far to many people with their eyes closed to this subject to understand that genocide is taking place as they sleep. 

So imagine for a moment that you are a Rohingya trapped behind barbed wire and military checkpoints. Imagine that your family and friends are starving to death as you pick through the grass for any source of food you can find. Imagine that your government, your homeland, is treating you as though you aren't even human. Now imagine that you aren't allowed to leave... you aren't even allowed to travel to neighboring villages or camps. 

All you know is hunger. All you know is pain. All you know is desperation. 

Now imagine that the only way out is to flee by boat. Yet to do this you have to sell everything you have and scavenge for something to bribe the boat's owner. Imagine that you have no way to know if this boat will make it to the presumed safety of Malaysia or not. All you can do is hope that the Nasaka don't catch you as you drift off into the night. 

Imagine that while you starve to death you are approached by Rakhine who promise they can get you out of Myanmar. Imagine that you are asked to sign a paper in exchange for a promise of a better life. Imagine that you don't realize that this paper will make you a slave and that you will be sold in Thailand or Bangladesh. 

But imagine that you stay...

Now try to imagine that the RNDP just visited your village. Imagine that you just heard them proclaim that your Rakhine neighbor can earn cash money just for killing you. You know that your local police don't stop these attacks. You know that the military sides with the RNDP. You know that there is nowhere you can run. Now imagine that you are being hunted... but instead of running, you can only wait for your hunter to strike. You know that you are like a caged animal. You know that there is nowhere in you homeland that you can hide. 

This is the life of nearly a million Rohingya trapped in Burma. This is how the government of Myanmar has allowed ethnic cleansing to occur in the Arakan. The Burmese have committed a forced famine, constructed death camps, blockaded entire villages, and permitted the wholesale slaughter of the Rohingya people. 

It is a story that would enrage the common citizens of the West. It is a narrative that would sell papers across America and Europe. And it is a tragedy that the West could exploit at a moment's notice. Yet the prospects of Myanmar's untapped wealth have curtailed the actions these crimes demand. Once again the numbers were run and the prospect of economic gain topped the cost of saving lives.

Scorched Earth

The Ethnic Cleansing of The Rohingya
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Around 800 Rohingya Homes Torched in Pauktaw, Burma)

Those of us who have been following the genocide in Myanmar have already seen the satellite images showing the burnt out Rohingya neighborhoods in Pauktaw, Arakan Myanmar. If you look closely at these images you can see the distinct line between the Buddhist and Muslim neighborhoods. It is where the police and fire crews stopped. Their only worry seemed to be keeping the arson contained to the Rohingya part of town. The police have been reported to have shot at those trying to leave the flames and smoke that engulfed the Rohingya homes. 

This attack is the first of its kind in this part of the Arakan region of Myanmar. Since the genocide began in June Pauktaw had managed to avoid the violence. Despite this fact however the Rohingya in Pauktaw had been restricted to this small swath of land and forbidden to cross over into the Rakhine part of town. They had been concentrated into an area of around 800 houses. An area that was backed up to the water where many had parked their houseboats. 

When the attack began the Rakhine mobs made an effort to sink or burn the boats before setting the houses on fire. This shows that an organized effort was made to cut the Rohingya off from fleeing. This was an attack that was designed to maximize casualties and to kill as many Rohingya as possible. Those who managed to flee were set adrift without food, water, or fuel. They could only flee with what they could carry. And even then they could only carry what their makeshift boats could hold. 

(Rakhine Police Watching the Fires, Blocking Escape)

As the fires spread across the Arakan region it seems the world has no interest in stopping the attacks. Rakhine mobs have been gaining more weapons and organizing larger attacks. Their religion of peace (Buddhism) seems to offer little resistance to this urge to violence. And the government of Myanmar has done little to stop the fighting. 

Police who sometimes guard the Rohingya areas of town are often seen engaging in the attacks against the Rohingya. The people the Rohingya are supposed to respect and trust are the very people that help torch their homes, rape their women, and kill their children. Fear of the state is almost as prevalent as the fear of their neighbors. 

(Burning Villages in Myanmar)

So what can you do to lift your voice and take action to bring awareness to these genocidal attacks? 

All you have to do is speak up. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account you can easily share these post on your accounts. You can also give updates in your own words about current attacks or ones that have happened during this horrific genocide. Your voice will give a voice to the most forgotten people on the planet. Your words can give dignity back to the people the world has neglected and abused. 

Want to do more? Want to take action?

Sign petitions like the one to soon be started by Restless Beings (www.restlessbeings.org) (http://www.restlessbeings.org/campaigns/voice-the-rohingya-petition). These petitions put your name out there and show others that you support the Rohingya. They also help tell our nations leaders that we want to see our nations take action to stop these attacks. They show our leaders that silence on this issue will not be tolerated. 

And remember... silence is a sin far worse than any other. For all evil needs to be victorious is for the good to remain silent.